Project Overview
Client
Hamilton City Council (gifted on to the City of Ieper, Belgium)
Location
Hamilton Park, Ieper, Belgium
Date Completed
2024
Services
Consultancy
Design
Cut. Fold. Build.
Some projects begin with a relationship. The Hamilton Park artwork — now standing at the entrance to a park named after Hamilton City, in Ieper, Belgium — is one of those.
About the Artwork
The piece was designed and fabricated in-house by Longveld, and gifted to Hamilton City Council. The Council in turn gifted the work to the City of Ieper, where it now marks the entrance to Hamilton Park. The artwork is formed from weathered steel, with two principal elements standing 2.7 metres and 3 metres tall — a paired form chosen to read clearly at the entrance to the park.
Design and Meaning
The project came about after an approach to Longveld from the Ieper Project Trust, led by former Hamilton City Councillor Peter Bos. Peter’s relationship with Luc Dehaene, a former mayor of Ieper, was instrumental in establishing sister city links between the two cities.
Hamilton Park itself was named after Hamilton City in 2018, in recognition of the way Ieper continues to care for our fallen of the First World War. A large contingent of New Zealanders — including the Hamilton Light Horse Brigade — fought as part of a Commonwealth force in the area, and many New Zealanders and Commonwealth soldiers who fought at Flanders and Passchendaele are buried in or near Ieper. The artwork acknowledges that long bond, simply and directly.
Engineering and Artisanship
Designing and fabricating an artwork to be shipped halfway around the world brought its own demands — including durability for long-term outdoor display in a European climate, and a form that could be packaged and reassembled cleanly on arrival. Weathered steel was chosen so the work would age gracefully and feel at home in its parkland setting in Ieper.
A Gift Between Sister Cities
The Hamilton Park artwork stands as both a marker of place and a tangible expression of the relationship between Hamilton, Kirikiriroa and Ieper. Longveld was proud to gift this piece to Hamilton City Council, and prouder still to see it take its place at the entrance to Hamilton Park.
See it in Person
The artwork can be visited at the entrance to Hamilton Park in Ieper, Belgium — a small piece of the Waikato in the heart of West Flanders.
